Cambodian Girl Who Collected Garbage As A Child Becomes Valedictorian In Melbourne Uni
A true rags to riches tale.
By Tamara Jayne — 18 Jun 2019, 10:26 AM
At 11 years old, Sophy Ron was forced to work at a waste dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in order to support her family
According to Cambodian Children's Fund, Sophy had never been to school but had instead spent seven days a week "knee-deep picking through noxious trash on the dump to earn money for her parents".
She grew up surviving on eating discarded food that she managed to scavenge for among the garbage
Fortunately, Cambodian Children's Fund (CCF), a nonprofit committed to transforming the country's "most impoverished kids into tomorrow’s leaders", rescued her as a child.
Last month, Sophy was one of the first CCF students to receive a full scholarship to begin her undergraduate degree at The University of Melbourne
It was an exceptional feat considering that she only began studying at 11 years old.
Sophy was even chosen as valedictorian to deliver the closing speech at her foundation year graduation.
At the ceremony, she stood on stage in front of her peers and delivered her speech in English with confidence.
"I was very excited but very nervous," Sophy said, after her graduation, according to CCF.
"The event went very smooth. It was awesome."
Sophy is now back in Cambodia for her term break, celebrating with her family and friends.
